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Sour Cream Maple Banana Cake

So what’s with bananas? I mean, is it on anyone’s list of favorite fruit? I’ve often wondered about this every time I walk past them stacked up in all their yellow glory in the supermarkets. They seem to sit there, waiting eagerly for shoppers to stop and pick up a bunch. On rare occasions do I see people actually picking them up and placing them in their carts.

While I like bananas, I just do not feel the mad affection for them like I do for mangoes or apricots. Bananas are just plain bananas to me. I have never felt a crazy craving for them and like the other shoppers at the supermarket, on rare occasions will I actually place them in my shopping cart.

Bananas seem to be socially unattractive. Compare them to ruby red cherries, or shiny, crunchy apples or the immaculately and neatly grouped grapes; one can immediately see what issues arise with the seemingly benign banana on say ... a first date.

Let’s take the obvious first – the shape of the banana is rather odd and allow fantasy its full run, it resembles other odd shaped objects ... like the receiver of a 1980s telephone.

And which end is easier to peel? It is said the bottom end of the banana is easier to peel but can you imagine groping your banana on your first date, not really sure which end to peel it? Should you finally get around to peeling the banana what happens if there is that awful brown mushy spot on the flesh? Do you ignore it and gorge the banana down offending brown spot and all?

What about those nasty, furry strings? How do you elegantly get rid of those? There is nothing sexy about those kinds of strings!

If the first date happens to be a picnic, never EVER, pack a banana with the rest of the food. The odor of a banana penetrates every type of food around them. Quiche Lorraine will be infected with the unique mushy smell of the banana, pâté will reek of musty bananas, turkey sandwiches will become banana-turkey and I cannot even imagine the hideousness of tuna-banana! After a tainted first date like that – game over! It might take a herculean act to get to the next level of a second date.

Bananas belong in the privacy of our kitchens, where no one sees us fumbling with the peel, removing the unattractive stings with our fingers and biting into the sweet creamy flesh. While the energy booster might not be the perfect food for a first date, bananas are simply divine in muffins, cakes, breads and desserts. So, instead of packing a banana for your next picnic how about indulging in this sour cream maple banana cake?

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees C and butter a square (20cm x 20cm) form and line the base with baking paper.

Pour 5 tablespoons maple syrup and swirl the form to coat the bottom. Cut 3 bananas in half lengthways and lay them, cut-side down, in the form.

In a mixing bowl beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla seeds, and the last banana with an electric whisk. Fold in the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and bicarbonate soda with a spatula, then stir in the sour cream.

Carefully spoon into the form without displacing the bananas. Bake for approx. 45 – 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Take cake out and poke the top all over with a skewer, about halfway into the cake. Pour the remaining maple syrup over the top and allow to soak for a few minutes.

Carefully turn out of the form upside-down, drizzling the banana-studded top with more syrup. Slice cake and serve warm.

The Food Guide Tip:Did you know there are hundreds of edible varieties of bananas? You’ll find everything you need to know about bananas, including how to select and store them in my Food Guide.

Verdict

The banana flavors are just perfect together with the tangy sour cream and sweet syrup. Here, those unique, ripe flavors from the bananas feel right at home, making this cake beautifully moist and luscious. It's perfect for any date be it the first romantic picnic, a play date or a coffee date with your girlfriends.

I've said it before and i'll say it again - bananas ate Pure Evil! Socially difficult, smelly, smooshy textured, turning ovwrripe and black as soon sa you turn their back on them for a minute! In fact the only good banana is a dead banana.... It one baked into a cake like your delectable creation! (seriously, despite my well-documented banana horror, I've always loved banana bread, cake & muffins - go figure!) live the addition of maple syrup! What time cam I come over for tea?

Lovely flavours in the cake. I love my bananas. In fact people in Australia have a weakness for it. You'll find them crowding around the banana section at the supermarket, stuffing a bunch in their trolleys, lol. But it is no mango, I'll give you that.

"I mean, is it on anyone’s list of favorite fruit?" Of course,it is on mine!:D I absolutely love bananas,as much as I love mangoes!Not talking about fruits,I love maple syrup a lot as well.I usually pour a generous quantity over my pancakes.Your recipe brings together my two favorite things;Thank you!:-)I am noting down/bookmarking this.

i love bananas, yet to try a baked version. they are my favorite topping for oats/cereal. it is a common choice in india, but my crazy love for mango exceeds that of bananas :D the cake looks delicious

Oh wow Meeta, this looks absolutely divine! It's funny you say you don't know of anyone who has bananas on their list of favourite fruits, however my fiance is one of those people. Like you I find bananas a bit plain and only ever eat them when they are baked in something, and your cake would be one of those delicious banana treats I would love.

Hi there and greetings from Australia. Due to cyclones up north, we had no bananas for quite some time and then when they did appear, they were over $10 per kilo! That's when you realise how nice this relatively ordinary fruit is.

This looks delicious, Meeta! I'm a big lover of banana in oatmeal or smoothies, but not "plain". This seems like a perfect recipe for me. Funny: ever since P2P I think about Jeanne when I read about bananas (after she described how much she hated them)!

Ah, Meeta! You should come to Australia where every second person has bananas in their shopping trolley! It's not really thought about how unusual they are to eat, most people I know peel the skin down from the stem part, remove the stringy bits if they're folling off and then break off half the banana and eat it, rather than eating it like you're holding an ice cream cone! Yes, there are alot of dodgy jokes made about the good ol' banana here in Oz, but we eat them alot as they keep relatively well, are a great form of potassium and also, if they spoil then- viola! - perfect for banana cake. Up in Carnarvon in Western Australia (where a heck of a lot of banana's are grown) you can buy them coated in chocolate and frozen on a stick - perfect for the cool weather.

Either way I'll take my banana fresh or mushed up in a moist banana loaf, perfect if lightly toasted with a big dob of butter. Your recipe is book marked for the black banana's I've got in my fridge ready to be baked.

Bananas are plentiful over here! And so many different kinds too :) So we are bound to have them around the house at one point or another. But I think I let them go overripe on purpose just so I can make cake! This one looks like a winner!

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hello, I am Meeta a freelance food photographer, stylist and writer living in the cuturally rich city of Weimar, Germany with my husband and our son, where I enjoy preparing multi-cultural home cooked meals with fresh organic ingredients. What's for lunch, Honey? is my award winning food blog where I combine my love for food with my love for photography and styling...